1 Civil Conflict and Institutional Weakness
Agger, Kasper and Jonathan Hutson, ‘Kony’s Ivory: How Elephant Poaching in Congo Helps Support the Lord’s Resistance Army’, Enough Project (June, 2013)
Summary: Agger and Hutson set out recommendations to local authorities and the international community following reports that the LRA has been sustaining its activities in the DRC through ivory poaching. During a visit to Garamba National Park, the authors documented evidence of LRA poaching operations which are undermining the efforts of African Union (AU) and US-backed Ugandan troops to combat the movement. Recommendations include expanding US advisory programmes to encourage defections from the LRA and improving governance. The report urges further investigation into the role of the LRA in elephant poaching, noting that the United Nations Security Council’s 2012 call for the UN and the AU to investigate the LRA’s logistical networks and illicit funding has not been observed. Key words: Armed NSAs, DRC, Garamba National Park, LRA, Ugandan army, AU, US
Beyers, Rene L. et al., ‘Resource Wars and Conflict Ivory: The Impact of Civil Conflict on Elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo – The Case of the Okapi Reserve’, PLOS ONE, Vol. 6, No. 11 (November 2011)
Summary: Using data from distance sampling surveys collected before and after the 1995–2006 conflict in the DRC, the authors observed changes in elephant abundance and distribution in the Okapi Faunal Reserve, a World Heritage Site in the DRC. The results showed that elephant populations declined by nearly 50 per cent, coinciding with a major increase in poaching. From 1996, militia groups moved into the reserve, to be replaced by Uganda-backed rebels. The Congolese army (FARDC) originally cooperated in Operation Tango, a collaborative effort between the ICCN, the military and NGOs to combat poaching, but was later implicated in the ivory trade. The installation of SPLA forces near the park boundaries following civil war in Sudan also caused an increase in ivory poaching. Key words: Civil conflict, armed NSAs, Great Lakes, elephant poaching, FARDC, SPLA
Douglas-Hamilton, Iain, ‘Time Running Out to Save Elephants from Ivory Trade’, SWARA Magazine, Issue 1, January–March 2013
Summary: In this article, Douglas-Hamilton, founder of Save the Elephants, highlights the deepening crisis of the ivory trade in Africa. Militia groups such as the Janjaweed and the LRA are using the dwindling elephant populations of Central Africa to fund their operations.
